NCJ Number
87588
Journal
American Journal of Mental Deficiency Volume: 86 Issue: 5 Dated: (March 1982) Pages: 459-464
Date Published
1982
Length
6 pages
Annotation
A 1977 survey of 88 respondents from southern California sought to determine the effects of religiousity on public opinion about legal responsibility for mentally retarded offenders.
Abstract
A majority of respondents thought that 35-year-old felons, even with low mental ages, were legally responsible for their criminal behavior, except for death-penalty homicide. People with certain religious stances were more prone to endorse legal responsbility for mentally retarded felons. These people believed in an afterlife in which punishment is possible, that mentally retarded people have free will, and afterlife rewards for unjust earthly sufferings. Respondents' political ideology did not alter the nature of the relationships among religiosity and legal responsibility for retarded felons. Study data and 11 references are provided. (Author abstract modified)